Page 367 - Keys To Community College Success

Citing Sources

You may be asked to submit different kinds of source lists when you hand in your paper:

■ A references list, also called a list of works cited, includes only the sources you
actually cited in your paper.
■ A bibliography includes all the sources you consulted, whether or not they were
cited in the paper.
■ An Annotated bibliography includes all the sources you consulted as well as an
explanation or critique of each source.

Your instructor will tell you which documentation style to use. Among the most
common are:

■ The Modern Language Association (MLA) format, generally used in the humani-
ties, including history, literature, the arts, and philosophy
■ The American Psychological Association (APA) style, the appropriate format in
psychology, sociology, business, economics, nursing, criminology, and social work
Consult a college-level writers’ handbook for an overview of these documentation
styles, or read about them online at www.mla.org and www.apa.org.
Get Feedback

Talk with your instructor about your draft, or ask a study partner to read it and answer
specific questions. Be open minded about the comments you receive. Consider each
carefully, and then make a decision about what to change.

Revising

When you revise, you critically evaluate the content, organization, word choice, para-
graph structure, and style of your first draft. You evaluate the strength of your thesis
and whether your evidence proves it, and look for logical holes. You can do anything
you want at this point to change your work. You can turn things around, presenting
information from the end of your paper up front, tweak your thesis to reflect the evi-
dence you presented, or choose a different organizational structure.
Engage your critical thinking skills to evaluate the content and form of your paper.
Ask yourself these questions as you revise:

■ Does the paper fulfill the requirements of the assignment?
■ Do I prove my thesis?
■ Is each idea and argument developed, explained, and supported by examples?
■ Does the introduction prepare the reader and capture attention?
■ Is the body of the paper organized effectively?
■ Does each paragraph have a topic sentence that is supported by the rest of the
paragraph?

■ Are my ideas connected to one another through logical transitions?
■ Do I have a clear, concise writing style?
■ Does the conclusion provide a natural ending without introducing new ideas?

Check for Clarity

Now check for sense, continuity, and clarity. Focus also on tightening your prose and
eliminating wordy phrases. Examine once again how paragraphs flow into one another
by evaluating the effectiveness of your transitions—the words, phrases or sentences that
connect ideas.

Appendix A: The Writing Process 329